I shivered slightly as a calm but cold breeze swept over my skin. It was a small reminder that the Great British summer was creeping it?s way out with September. On the school field ahead of me, the other kids from my year enjoyed a structured game of Rounders, red faced and breathless as they ran around in the sun.
?What?s wrong with your leg??
I looked up into the face of Jacob Fenton. He looked much taller from this angle, however I knew he was at least six inches taller than my 5ft 2? when we were both standing anyway. The sun illuminated on the frames of his glasses as he pushed them further up his nose with his index finger.
?How do you know there is something wrong with my leg?? I asked.
He sat down next to me on the grass ?I heard you giving your excuses to miss PE.?
I turned the page of my Geography text book, brushing away a stray strand of grass which had blown onto the page. In the distance, I could hear the kids shouting instructions at each other as Mrs Hillas; our physical education teacher encouraged them with a huge grin on her face.
?It?s strange? I began ?It?s a pain that comes and goes.?
?Ah, I think I know what you mean, I have a similar problem ? only mine tends to start on Monday, then it goes away for a few days and returns on a Friday.? Jacob said thoughtfully, his mouth contorting into a slight smile.
?PE days?? I guessed.
He didn?t answer but his silence told me I was right. He was avoiding PE just like me.
It wasn?t often boys talked to me. I wasn?t a pretty, popular type of girl and I didn?t have the well developed figure that most of the girls in my class enjoyed. I was short, skinny and pretty boring, even my hair was a boring shade of mousy brown. Jacob wasn?t exactly popular either, he seemed to go out of his way to be different. His dyed black hair was arranged scruffily on his head, covering his ears and making its way over his face and he was unnaturally well spoken with a rather eccentric manner.
?So, why don?t you like PE?? he asked as he glanced down at my text book.
?Because I?m crap at it and everyone shouts at me? I replied truthfully ?What about you? Why do you avoid it??
?Same reasons? he said calmly as he looked out onto the field ?I enjoy watching though. It amuses me how they all take it so seriously, like it really matters, you know??
I smiled, it was kind of funny thinking about it.
?Do you like Geography?? he asked as he glanced from my text book to my face. Of course, I wasn?t really reading it, I was just trying to look busy in case Mrs Hillias decided to find me a job sorting out team vests.
?Not really? I answered ?But I can?t just sit here doing nothing. Don?t you have anything to be getting on with??
Jacob smiled, watching as Katie McLaughlin whacked the ball and made a run for first base, cheered on by her many admirers. ?No, I?m busy watching the game? he laughed.
?I think I?d rather do my Geography homework? I groaned, turning another page, not really registering what I was reading.
Jacob turned his head away from the field and smiled at me. He had a nice smile which I?d never noticed before. I felt my cheeks flush hot and quickly turned my attention back to my text book.
?Did you have a good summer?? he asked. It had been three weeks since the end of the summer holidays and I realised he was the only person to have asked this. Unfortunately, I didn?t have an array of interesting stories to tell about my summer. I envied these kids who spent their summers enjoying beach parties, hanging with friends and soaking up the sun. I, on the other hand spent most of my time in my bedroom, listening to music and day-dreaming. Apart from the days my mum dragged me out to visit my grandparents, of course.
?Yeah, it was ok? I lied ?How about you??
?It was ok? he repeated, laughing as Sean Lincroft and Jason Tyman crashed into each other during a high speed chase for the ball. Mrs Hillas ran over to them, her whistle in her mouth and a look of grave concern, or perhaps irritation on her face.
I smiled at the commotion on the field ?So, what did you get up to?? I asked, trying to sound distracted.
?We were on holiday for two weeks of it? he replied.
?Anywhere nice??
?Florida? he muttered.
I felt myself raise an eyebrow and I turned away from my text book once more. ?Nice ? bet you had a great time? What was it like? Did you go to Disney World?? I threw more questions at him than I intended to. I?d always wanted to go to Florida, or anywhere in the States actually but it was never really an option for us. Finances stretched as far as a week in the Lake District or perhaps a week in Spain. They didn?t stretch to the sunshine capital of Orlando.
?It was hot, crowded ? and I think I?ll have a heart attack if I so much as see another cheeseburger? he laughed.
?Oh come on! You don?t go to Florida and whinge about the heat and the food! Admit, you enjoyed it!?
?Alright, it was great? he replied with a smile ?It was our second time there though, the first time it was amazing.?
?You?re so lucky, I?d love to go to Florida?
?Then make sure you do one day? Jacob replied thoughtfully ?I?ll see you on Monday, Jas? he added as he stood up and brushed the dead grass from his black school trousers.
?See ya?
He walked away, hands in his pockets still watching the PE lesson unfold. He grinned as an argument erupted over a dropped ball, and I laughed too. I?d never realised there was someone else in the school who seemed to be on the same wavelength as me. It was good to know that someone else didn?t see how a life or death situation could erupt over a silly Rounders game. It was good to see another kid, especially a boy who didn?t see the need to act dumb in order to be popular. I knew he didn?t have many friends but he genuinely didn?t seem to mind as he strolled around the school, minding his own business ? fully content with who and what he was.
Five minutes later, Mrs Hillas blew her final whistle and half of the kids began jumping up and down in celebration whilst the other half lowered their brows and blamed each other for the defeat. I packed my text book away in my school bag and followed as the class headed towards the changing rooms. The popular kids always walked together in a group. It was like the elite class, you had to be terribly cool to walk with them. Katie McLaughlin led the group, laughing and joking as she untied her perfect, blonde hair and showed off her perfect white teeth. Her perfect skin blushed from the game and her perfect figure looked like it had just dropped another two pounds in weight from the exercise.
Karla White walked with her. She had a completely different look going on with her beautiful, olive skin, her wavy black hair and her dark eyes. She enjoyed just as much popularity as Katie did which I could never quite understand. She really wasn?t a nice person. She would pick faults with anyone less perfect than herself, she would stir trouble between various friends and cause them all to fall out and she would bully anyone she could intimidate. Like me, for instance.
I let them walk past, and then their male admirers behind them before joining the line at the back as they piled into the changing rooms. I looked at my watch and saw that the final school buzzer would ring out in 10 minutes time. I loitered around the gym doors, ready to leave for home as soon as the school day was over.
I hated the changing rooms more than the PE lesson. This was where the competition really took place. Everything personal to a girl was scrutinised in here from your weight to the condition of your skin. How often do you shave your legs? What moisturiser do you use? How expensive was your perfume and more importantly, is it designer? Are your sports shoes Nike or Vans? I even remember being laughed at in here when Karla pointed out to the rest of the class that I was wearing knickers, and not ?girl boxers? like everyone else. I was sure I wasn?t the only one, but of course as soon as something like this is pointed out, anyone NOT wearing girl boxers would shove their school trousers on quickly before they were caught in the wrong attire.
?Remember girls ?? cried Mrs Hillas over the noise of 20 teenage girls fussing over hair and cosmetics. So much aerosol was sprayed during these times that it was often difficult to breathe ?You need to remember your football boots and shin pads on Monday, we?re starting football.?
I immediately decided I would break, or at least badly sprain my ankle over the weekend.